


didn't make sense for this to follow through

by lifewasradical



Series: Band Bonding [2]
Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Almost Kiss, Band Bonding part 2!!, Fluff, Holding Hands, Humor, Laser Tag, M/M, Rian knows Too Much, Swearing, more of Alex being Confused about Jack, still have no idea when this is supposed to take place so imagine whatever you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28782711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lifewasradical/pseuds/lifewasradical
Summary: “Zack got to take us on a fucking hike, I get to do whatever I want! And what I want is to play laser tag for band bonding!” Jack pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. He looks like a bratty child, all dramatic frowns and stomping feet.Or, it's Jack's turn to choose Band Bonding.
Relationships: Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth
Series: Band Bonding [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110224
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	didn't make sense for this to follow through

**Author's Note:**

> So [Bella](https://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com) so kindly asked (insisted) that I had to continue with the rest of the band bonding activities, so here we are! Additional shoutout to Bella for you know, sharing the whole inspiration for Jack's activity too. Does anyone write Jalex that isn't explicitly for Bella at this point? 
> 
> Also, to be honest, I have never played laser tag and had to do a Lot of research for this so I ended up making it too vague, sue me. 
> 
> Title from Secrets by State Champs

“Aren’t we too old for laser tag?” Rian complains, glancing around at the other patrons in the lobby. Everyone else here is under the age of 15, mostly boys punching their friends in the arms and swearing unnecessarily. The preteens all think girls have cooties and live for pizza and video games, making fun of each other mercilessly. 

Alex doesn’t think they’re out of place at all. 

“Zack got to take us on a fucking hike, I get to do whatever I want! And what I want is to play laser tag for band bonding!” Jack pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. He looks like a bratty child, all dramatic frowns and stomping feet. 

It should be annoying, but none of them even react to Jack’s antics anymore other than rolling their eyes at him. He’s always leaned heavily into the idea that he’s the youngest in the band and everyone should bend to his every whim. And so what if Alex enables his bad behavior by always siding with Jack? 

“It wasn’t a hike, we went cliff jumping. Or at least some of us did,” Zack replies, throwing an accusing glance towards Alex and Jack. 

“Anyway,” Rian says, clapping his hands before they get too far into a hole of Jack and Zack going back and forth about who’s right and who’s wrong, “How are we going to do this?” 

  
“I call Zack!” Jack yells, immediately clinging onto Zack’s arm and hanging off of him like he’s won the best prize at the fair. 

“Who says I want to be on your team?” Zack replies, looking down at Jack with a disgusted grimace. 

“Merrikat for life, baby! You have no choice, it’s my band bonding day, so I get to choose who’s on my team,” Jack grins, beaming up at Zack.

If Zack mutters under his breath about Jack being a spoiled brat, no one acts like they hear it. Alex isn’t too sure how this is band bonding, considering they’re on two different teams and someone is going to end up upset when they lose, but Jack’s goofy smile could convince him to take part in anything. 

“It’s fine, Alex and I will kick your asses,” Rian replies, looking far too smug for someone who hasn’t done laser tag in years. Alex wishes he wouldn’t be so confident, seeing as he’s unwilling to rain on Jack’s parade by trying too hard. He would go to the end of the earth to make Jack happy, so throwing a game of laser tag might be in his future. 

  
“I used to fuck kids UP on the playground during tag, you don’t stand a chance against us,” Jack sneers, tilting his head up snootily. Zack rolls his eyes and doesn’t say a word. 

“Can we just get going,” Alex finally interjects, nodding towards the check in area. They follow his lead, checking in and signing the necessary wavors to play. They’re separated into two different teams, Rian and Alex blinking red while Jack and Zack have blue. The attendant explains how the vests and guns work before leading them towards the doors to the arena. They’re instructed that because there's only four of them, they have twenty minutes to find and kill the other team. If neither team is eliminated after times up, whichever team has more players still alive, wins. If no one has been shot by the end, then they wasted $8 a person and they’re out of luck. 

Alex feels someone tug on his arm, pulling him back from the group. He turns to Rian, shooting him a questioning glance. “I have a plan that’s going to ensure we win,” Rian whispers, smirking under the neon lights. Alex has a bad feeling about all of this.

* * *

This is a horrible idea. This is an awful, terrible, horrifyingly bad plan, Alex thinks, peering around the edge of a wall. He hasn’t seen Jack or Zack since they started, and he’s pretty confident it’s been at least ten minutes. He’s been hiding out behind a fake rock painted fluorescent orange, waiting for the right moment. 

Really, he’s been waiting to see Jack. 

A flash of blue races past him and around a corner, the color indicating that it’s someone from the other team. He tiptoes after them, looking around wildly to make sure that someone isn’t going to attack him from behind. Alex’s nerves are through the roof, heart pounding wildly and echoing in his ears. 

He rounds the wall carefully, seeing Jack crouching in the corner. Jack stands and raises his gun, posing to shoot Alex dead on, but Alex lifts his hands in surrender, letting his own laser gun fall to his hip on its cord. “Wait, let me talk,” Alex says, taking a careful step forward. 

Jack tilts his head, barely noticeable under the black lights. Alex continues walking, inching towards Jack slowly, knowing that it would be far too easy to back out now, run away and give up this whole dumb plan that Rian’s set up. But he wants to make Rian proud, and maybe, just maybe, there’s something in it for Alex himself. 

“I’ve been looking for you,” Alex grins, holding his hand out, palm up, towards Jack. Jack eyes him skeptically, eyes narrowed at the action. 

“Isn’t that the whole point of the game,” Jack asks, lowering his gun a little. 

Alex laughs, “Well, yeah, but I’ve been looking for you for another reason.” He continues taking small steps, closing the gap between them. Jack seems to relax a little, letting his gun fall too as Alex invades his space, small smiles on both of their faces. 

Alex feels his heart rate increase again, lungs painfully constricting as the adrenaline starts to kick in. His hands are shaking as he raises them, one threading into Jack’s belt loop and the other coming up around his shoulder. His palms are sweating and he can barely keep the tremors from his breath as he gets impossibly closer to Jack. 

He mentally chastises himself for reacting this way- it’s just Jack, his best friend of some fucking insane number of years, so there really should be nothing to be nervous about. Still, this could mess everything up, if it all goes wrong. The stakes are high and Alex has to weigh his options carefully, torn between disappointing Rian and avoiding a potentially catastrophic situation, or making Rian proud and risking the best thing in his life. 

Alex prays to whatever higher powers are out there that he’s making the right choice. 

“There’s something I’ve been wanting to do, but there’s never been a good enough moment,” Alex whispers into the space, just barely audible over the loud top 40 pop song blasting through the speakers. 

Jack swallows around nothing, suddenly looking concerned but also minisculely interested. Alex holds onto that interest to carry on, leaning in slowly towards Jack. 

He doesn’t miss the slightly alarmed look in Jack’s eyes, something akin to disbelief and terror sitting there for just a moment, before it settles into excitement for just as short of a second. Jack’s eyes flutter closed and he tilts his head down, just enough to prove that he sees where Alex is going with this. 

A split second before their lips would meet, Alex panics, realizing the gravity of what he’s about to do. The voices in his head scream “ _is this really what you want! To kiss Jack right now in the middle of a fucking laser tag arena?”_ For once, Alex listens to those voices. 

Alex reroutes his movement, instead pressing a kiss to Jack’s cheek, a little lower than where it should normally be with the way he was moving, but regardless, he avoids Jack’s pouting lips entirely. Jack opens his eyes, confused as to what just happened, locking eyes with Alex. He’s surprised to see that Jack looks disappointed, but the voices in Alex’s brain scream “ _good call, dude.”_

“I’m sorry,” Alex says, genuinely unsure if he’s sorry because of not kissing Jack or for what’s about to happen next. 

“Wha-” Jack starts, words dying in his throat as Alex brings his laser gun up, taking a swift step back and shooting Jack directly in the chest. Jack lets out an offended gasp as the lights click on, an sign that a team has won. 

Alex hears Rian whoop from somewhere in the distance, harmonizing with Zack’s defeated groan. He turns away from Jack, heart still thundering in his chest. He can’t believe that he fulfilled Rian’s wish, the plan of “ _Find Jack, distract him with a kiss, and shoot him. It’s a surefire way for us to win,”_ echoing in his head. 

If it was such a good plan, why does Alex feel so empty now? 

“You’re a dirty cheater, Alexander William!” Jack shouts, outraged, with a hint of teasing laced in his tone. The idea that Jack isn’t actually mad at him has Alex’s nerves calming down just the smallest amount. 

Still, he thinks about how close he had been to actually kissing Jack full on the lips with no audience and no real reason. Sure, since the day at the lake (and even before then, if he’s being honest with himself) it’s all Alex can think about, but he wasn’t going to actually _do_ anything about it, especially not in the middle of a damn game of laser tag. 

Alex can’t help but fixate on the way that Jack leaned down, almost as if he actually _wanted_ to kiss Alex. The tiny glimmer of excitement that had graced Jack’s eyes immediately before the almost kiss is permanently burned into Alex’s memory, the sight all he sees each time he blinks. He knows that he’s going to be haunted by this memory in his nightmares later, forever thinking about what would have happened if he just kissed Jack in the dark where no one would see them. 

A first (real) kiss at a laser tag arena that smells of sweat and rubber isn’t really romantic, but at least it would have been memorable, Alex thinks. 

He reaches a hand back for Jack, a silent peace offering for killing him so ruthlessly. “Sorry babe, it’s all for the game,” Alex winks, biting his lip to contain the nervous chuckle that lives in his throat. 

Jack groans, taking his hand and lacing their fingers together, all the while looking put out by the whole situation. He huffs, rolling his eyes petulantly as they make their way back to the exit, getting slightly lost in the maze of walls and obstacles even as the room is fully lit up. Alex thinks his hands still feel sweaty, laced with Jack’s, as they reach their friends once again.

“Success!” Rian shouts, pulling Alex into a tight hug to celebrate their win. Alex laughs half heartedly, body still reacclimating to existing without the thrill of anticipation. He’s slightly clammy still, having run through the full range of emotions over the course of the last twenty or so minutes. 

“What the fuck happened,” Zack demands, pouting at Jack. Alex pauses to think about how similar they really are, both overdramatic and incredibly competitive. 

“The boy is good, but this boy is better,” Alex says, jabbing both his thumbs back towards his chest. 

Jack huffs and rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, “Alex cheated! He set me up! I really thought we had a moment of understanding!” he whines, sounding more and more like a child with every word. 

“No, it’s called gameplay, baby!” Rian laughs, shooting finger guns at Jack’s vest with little “pew pew” noises. Jack turns his offended gasp towards Rian, looking more betrayed than ever. 

“ _You!”_ he yells, pointing a finger at Rian, moving forward to poke him in the chest, “of _course_ it was you behind all of this. Robert Rian Dawson you are _dead to me!_ ” Jack shouts, turning to face Zack. “Come on Zacky, you and I are going to start our own band and we’re going to be infinitely more successful than those fuckers.” 

Zack lets out a little yelp of “help!” as he’s being dragged away, Jack rambling on about how Zack will have to sing lead and Jack himself will learn how to play the guitar while also playing the drums and how it’ll all be the _best thing ever_. Alex would pay good money to see how that would play out. 

Rian smiles at them for a moment before turning to Alex, gesturing for them to follow after the other half of the band. “So did you actually follow my plan?” Rian asks casually, pulling at the velcro of his vest. 

“I backed him into a corner and kissed his cheek,” Alex confirms with a nod, making to do the same as Rian. 

Rian looks at him, a puzzled expression on his face, “His cheek?” 

Alex feels his own cheeks flush, wishing that he was back under the black lights of the arena where no one could see his full reactions. He doesn’t want to think about what this reaction tells Rian, instead coughing to clear the lump in his throat, “Yep, it all went according to plan.” 

Rian stares at him for a beat longer, taking in all of Alex’s expression. He feels unnervingly vulnerable here, being scrutinized by his band mate for doing exactly what he was told to do. Still, there’s a heavy pit in his stomach, a telltale sign that he won’t be sleeping well tonight. Alex wishes he could just rid himself of all thoughts related to a certain Jack, remove all the memories of him until he’s willing to open up that can of worms again. He thinks he’d like to bury that chest of feelings in his backyard, far under an oak tree, at least until he’s able to get a better grip on reality. 

Alex finally breaks away from Rian, heading off to return his vest to the front desk, coming up on Jack and Zack chatting animatedly about their strategy for next time. “There won’t be a next time, you used up your band bonding token, Jack. Save some time for the rest of us,” Alex laughs, slinging an arm around Jack’s shoulders. 

If Jack tenses under his weight, Alex pointedly ignores it, electing to focus in on the way that Zack is describing how Rian snuck up out of nowhere and shot him while he had his back turned. Rian looks all too proud of himself, standing triumphantly as Zack recalls his downfall. Alex savors this moment where things feel normal and easy, knowing that as soon as he’s alone, all thoughts related to Jack will resurface. 

For now, he’s content with the way that Jack finally leans his head against Alex’s shoulder, a sign that even if he may have made things a little weird for them, Jack isn’t mad. Alex can’t help but turn his head and press a kiss into Jack’s hair, quickly inhaling the scent as if he could ever forget it. Rian is sending him a knowing glance, once that makes the hairs at the back of Alex’s neck stand up from it’s confidence that he knows _something,_ even if Alex doesn’t know what that something is. 

Alex lets himself get lost in the stories his bandmates are telling, bringing his other hand up into Jack’s hair, softly playing with the strands there. When he inevitably has to tell the story of this day during an interview in the future, he thinks about how he’ll skip the part about kissing Jack, saving that one memory as something for just the two of them. No matter what, that’s all that matters anyways; Jack and Alex and nothing else. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Talk to me on Tumblr [lifewasradical](https://lifewasradical.tumblr.com) 💜


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